tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post8961375858219465484..comments2017-11-21T07:17:08.840+10:00Comments on Saipan Saipanuvian Speaks: Bruce A. Batemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804747424525560858noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-13922159457584248372008-09-19T17:13:00.000+10:002008-09-19T17:13:00.000+10:00Bruce, The Fitial team has been a miserable failur...Bruce, The Fitial team has been a miserable failure. They've had a chance and screwed it up royally. Paying an enormous amount of money for a short term stopgap after numerous businesses have gone kaput doesn't sound like much of a fix to me. See Zaldy's piece today.:<BR/><BR/>THE administration wants us to be thankful for the Aggreko generators it is renting for $6 million in taxpayer — i.e., your — money. It’s as if a mugger, after taking your wallet and stabbing you, expects you to be grateful because he also applied tourniquet to your injured limb before leaving you on the sidewalk.<BR/><BR/>It was this administration, through its negligence and/or incompetence, that allowed CUC’s power plants to deteriorate further. The governor, to be sure, inherited quite a mess. But that was precisely why he was elected. He promised to solve the disarray left behind by his predecessor. But he didn’t. Instead of fixing CUC’s problems on day one, he allowed them to get worse. And so for the first time in CNMI history, its people have to endure power outages, from two to 12 hours a day. The last time the power supply was this bad was in Dec. 1986, and that was after Supertyphoon Kim passed only 20 miles north of Saipan, plowing the island with 153-knot winds and record rainfall.<BR/><BR/>This power crisis is man-made. And Aggreko is an expensive short-term “solution.” CUC is already badgering the government and PSS to pay up.<BR/><BR/>CUC and this administration, in short, have nothing to brag about. The fact that this bankrupt government has to resort to a $6 million quick fix is a clear indication of how bad things have become under this governor’s watch. Aggreko, moreover, didn’t solve the government’s addiction to band-aid solutions.<BR/><BR/>But not even Aggreko can make the people forget that the power situation under this administration has worsened while power rates have quadrupled. This has resulted in more business shutdowns. Almost 50 percent of buildings on island are now empty. Yet the governor is more worried about losing his control over labor and immigration rules — a control that has given him enormous leverage when dealing with businesses, investors and special interests. He wants to take the feds to court instead of focusing on getting the federal assistance the CNMI badly needs.<BR/><BR/>This administration has failed the people of the CNMI. It has to go.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16129588857193564261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-59488508413792205692008-09-19T15:07:00.000+10:002008-09-19T15:07:00.000+10:00"pete a does not have to resign, right?"Well, nony..."pete a does not have to resign, right?"<BR/><BR/>Well, nony, I guess that depends on how you interpret it. Pete A. obviously likes to think its the same job, for obvious reasons. I'll discuss it in next weeks column.<BR/><BR/>************<BR/><BR/>Yep, I aggree with truth is' assessment. The whiners don't really want it fixed...they want to gripe.<BR/><BR/>""""""""""<BR/><BR/>I dunno, Jeff. We have power almost all the time now compared with 10, 12, 14 hours every day off ther for a while. <BR/><BR/>As I said, I'm pretty happy for the Aggreko deal, (of course Muna didn't broker that deal, but he did finally implement it). <BR/><BR/> Let's see...hell, maybe they will not only fix the cheese sandwich they might even throw in a piece of ham. I say give 'em a chance.Bruce A. Batemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804747424525560858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-6254850331103546222008-09-19T04:10:00.000+10:002008-09-19T04:10:00.000+10:00so the new federal law considers the resident rep ...so the new federal law considers the resident rep position as a virtual incumbent. this means pete a does not have to resign, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-91323935584862300592008-09-18T16:00:00.000+10:002008-09-18T16:00:00.000+10:00Fitial and Muna couldn't "fix" a grilled cheese sa...Fitial and Muna couldn't "fix" a grilled cheese sandwich.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16129588857193564261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-2930596775144656102008-09-17T17:32:00.000+10:002008-09-17T17:32:00.000+10:00bottomline.. if Tony is successful in turning arou...bottomline.. if Tony is successful in turning around CUC.. critics will still pray for destruction.. and hope that CUC fails.. they will not be able to come to terms in any way that Fitial and Muna fixed the problem.. if they are successful and Aggreko is gone in a year and if there is excess power, those same critics will be very unhappy and will find other problems with Fitial and Muna and ignore the successful CUC turnaround..truth is..noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089785680144928412.post-77368542534233290712008-09-17T10:29:00.000+10:002008-09-17T10:29:00.000+10:00My guess is that the people are skeptical because ...My guess is that the people are skeptical because this government is demonstrably corrupt and incompetent.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16129588857193564261noreply@blogger.com